NHL Playoffs

April 21, 2010

Note: This was written last night, but I didn't think it would work as a regular column for sports fans after a hockey game. Rather than scrap it, consider it like the alternate cut or DVD extras.

Wouldn’t it be funny if George Santayana could never
remember where he put his car keys? I’m sure he had a big bowl or hook near the
front door to stash his keys and wallet, but always ended up leaving them in
his pockets or maybe he took them out of his pants and put them on the desk
near his study and went crazy blaming everyone for taking them out of his bowl.

Maybe we should back up a step… the reason why that would
be so funny is because Santayana is the author of one of the most famous and
quoted sayings ever.

“Those who cannot
remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Born in Spain and educated at Harvard, Santayana wasn’t
known as a philosopher as much as he was for creating future clichés. Still, if
he could have been classified as anything it would have been as an
aestheticism. Santayana loved beautiful things so much that he was inspired to
put his feelings into words. Lots and lots of words, too, judging from the
breadth of his literary legacy.

The guy could write like you can pile up out-of-control
credit debt.

Nevertheless, all anyone ever talks about in regard to
Santayana is being condemned to repeat the past because of a faulty memory.
That has to be like The Clash being known for “Should I Stay or Should I Go,”
and “Rock the Casbah” amongst the mainstream listeners when the rest of their
catalogue is so much more superior.

They made London
Calling and Sandinista for crying
out loud.

Yet if I had a nickel for every time I trotted out
Santayana in a story about sports, I’d have a handful of nickels. Why not add
another one to the pile right now and check with Brian Boucher about what he
remembers from the time he was in a playoff series against New Jersey with a
3-1 series lead.

It’s unlikely he wants to repeat that week from nearly a
decade ago.

“It’s hard not to think about it,” Boucher said.
“Hopefully this time the script is written differently. Ten years is 10 years
ago and certainly there are experiences you can learn from—good and bad. If
there is one thing I know it’s the series isn’t over until it’s over.”

The Flyers have had two 3-1 series leads against the
Devils in the last two times they met in the postseason, and they finished the
deal in five games in the 2004 Eastern quarterfinals. However, when Boucher and
teammate Simon Gagne were rookies, they came one win away from going to the
Stanley Cup Finals.

That one win proved to be so elusive.

Boucher and the Flyers dropped three straight games,
including two at the Wachovia Center, as the Devils carried that momentum to
win the Cup. Two of those losses—games 6 and 7—were 2-1 defeats in which
Boucher matched future Hall-of-Famer Martin Brodeur with a series filled with
highlight-reel saves.

That was a long time ago, though.

“My career has been kind of crazy,” Boucher said. “I put
all that behind me and I’m not worried about what went wrong or whatever. I’m
happy to be back here and grateful to be back here, I signed back here with
good vibes and the position I’m in right now is what I remembered and what I
hoped for. I’m excited and I’m trying to enjoy the moment.”

So far it’s been perfectly enjoyable for Boucher and the
Flyers. Better yet, there are some interesting superlatives to go with the
latest playoff run. For instance, Boucher’s last playoff win heading into the
series with the Devils was May 20, 2000, a drought that ended after a nine-year
and 327 days span. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Boucher’s “streak”
between Stanley Cup playoff victories is the third longest in NHL history
behind Boston’s Jim “Sugar” Henry (1942-1952) and Sean Burke (1988-1998), whose
wins, coincidentally, came for the Devils and Flyers.

Meanwhile, Boucher’s 14 career playoff wins is the
third-most in franchise history. To put that into perspective, only Ron Hextall
and Bernie Parent have more, which could mean that despite the gap in wins,
Boucher could go down as one of the best playoff performers in team history.

Of course that sample size consists of just two years,
and of one of those years Boucher is a little reluctant to open up about. Can’t
really blame him—after all, how many folks like to talk about the things they
did or thoughts they had when they were 23? Truth is, most people would prefer
to forget what was going on when they were 23 and just starting out in a
career. Boucher is no exception there, though in his line of work people are
constantly reminding him of the things he did a long time ago.

“I was a wide-eyed kid and was just trying to enjoy the
moment,” he said. “I’m still having fun with it.

“You can’t look ahead and you can’t look behind. You have
to live in the moment, and that’s all I can do. Whatever is going to happen
will happen.”

That’s usually how it works, though that's probably not what Santayana was talking about. But for the point of argument, let's just see how Boucher's playoffs play out before his legacy is defined. Twice he's been in a playoff series against New Jersey with a 3-1 lead...